s

- Pirate Guild : Intelligent Pirate Behaviours -
Written by Serial Kicked / Anarkis Federation
(Artificial Life Plugin for X3 Reunion)


  1. Technical Details
    1.1. Installation details
    1.2. Upgrade from a previous version
    1.3. Upgrade from a beta version (<1.0) to a stable version (>=1.0)
    1.4. Uninstallation details
    1.5. Compatibility
  2. Plugin Informations
    2.1. General Description
    2.2. Hostile/Neutral/Friendly Pirates
    2.3. Communication System
    2.4. Getting Started
  3. Pirate Behaviours
    3.1. Economy
    3.2. Pirate Bases
    3.3. Guild HQ
    3.4. Buying and capture of ships
    3.5. Pirate patrols
  4. Pirate Guild System
    4.1. Joining the Pirate Guild
    4.2. Pirate News Network
    4.3. Pirate Shipyards
    4.4. Guild Members
    4.5. Ranks
    4.6. The Guild Leader
    4.7. Mission System
    4.8. Contests
  5. New Ship Upgrades
    5.1. Upgrade List
    5.2. Misc Infos about the upgrades
  6. Other Details
    6.1. Interactions with Yaki Armada
    6.2. Frequently Asked Questions
    6.3. Limitations
    6.4. Full Changelog
    6.5. Libraries
  7. Copyright



TECHNICAL DETAILS

1.1 Installation Details


Installation procedure is easy. Just open the SPK file you've just downloaded with Cycrow's XScript Installer. If you don't want to use XScript Installer, you'll need WinRAR or a similar tool to extract all files from the .rar archive to your X3 Reunion installation folder. This done, please follow the following steps:
  • Run X3 and load your save game (or start a new game, as you wish)
  • If you haven't activated the Script Editor yet
    - Activate it by renaming your player name to " Thereshallbewings " (notice the big 'T' and the 2 small 'L')
    - Save your Game
    - Reload your Game
  • Go to the Artificial Life setting menu ( [Esc] / General )
  • Locate "Pirate Guild : Intelligent Pirate Behaviours" and set it to TRUE
  • Go to the menu to set your keyboard shortcuts. "Interface" tab, scroll down to the bottom, and set a shortcut for ECS: Comm a ship/station
  • There's also a few other shortcuts  (still at the bottom) that you may want to assign, you'll need them when you'll have bought some ship upgrades to the Guild. All Pirate Guild shortcuts are written like PG: something . Anyway, the plugin will remind you once you've bought the specific upgrade.
  • Done ! 

1.2 Upgrade From a Previous Version

Upgrade process from a version to another may vary. Usually all you will need to do is to copy the files from the archive to the X3 Reunion folder and load your savegame as usual. The plugin will automatically update itself and send you a message when done. But if you notice any glitch, try to do the following :
  • Go to the Artificial Life setting menu ( [Esc] / General )
  • Locate "Pirate Guild : Intelligent Pirate Behaviours" and set it to FALSE
  • Wait until you receive a message telling that the plugin has been disabled
  • Go back to the AL setting menu and set Pirate Guild back to TRUE
Anyway read the post on the board announcing the new version, if you have anything special to do I will tell it there.


1.3 Upgrade From a Beta version (<0.95) to a stable version (>= 0.95)

Pirate Guild has evolued a lot since the 0.x versions, so you'll need to clean the old version before installing the new one to be sure you won't have any problem.

Before installing anything
, run your game as usual, then :
  • Go to the Artificial Life setting menu ( [Esc] / General )
  • Locate "Pirate Guild : Intelligent Pirate Behaviours" and set it to FALSE
  • Wait until you receive a message telling you that the plugin has been disabled
  • Save your game
  • Quit the game
  • Install / unrar the new version
  • Run your game and load your savegame
  • Go back to the AL setting menu and set Pirate Guild back to TRUE

1.4 Uninstall Details

Follow these simple steps to uninstall the script (or before uninstalling the script using XScript Installer) :
  • Load your savegame
  • Go to the Artificial Life setting menu ( [Esc] / General )
  • Locate "Pirate Guild : Intelligent Pirate Behaviours" and set it to FALSE
  • Wait until you receive a message telling that the plugin has been disabled
  • Save and quit the game
  • Delete files of this archive from the script folder (not really necessary, though)

1.5 Compatibility

You will need at least X3 2.0 for Pirate Guild to work properly. Pirate Guild should be compatible (meaning it won't overwrite ship commands or texts from other scripts) with most plugins and scripts. However my plugin make available about 15 new upgrades for your ships (and for the ships handled by the Guild). Some are similar to scripts written by other people. As long as you don't use two similar ship upgrades on the same ship in the same time things should go smoothly.

But if you like Pirate Guild, and want to have a good playing experience, I'd suggest you to use the ship upgrades from PG itself, even if the 3rd party may (or may not) be better. They have been written to work well with every aspect of PG, and moreover this time, your won't be the only ship in the universe to use those, as pirate Pirate Guild vessels will also have them onboard.

This said, there is one script called Friendly Pirates which is totally incompatible with Pirate Guild. The goal of this piece of code was to turn the pirates blue, so I take a wild guess than many of you tried this script at least once. You must remove it correctly before installing Pirate Guild. And here's the fun part, this script is a (heavy) loop that continuously runs in the background without any uninstall script file (sic). Check the Friendly Pirates topic on EgoBoard, there's a post here explaining how to remove it.

About Mods, there should have any problem, as long as the mod you're using has a few pirate sectors and PB. As a general note, the more pirate sectors and stations, the better. Pirate Guild will probably work better (but will also be a much tougher opponment) with the Terradine Mod than with most other mods, due to the map design.



PLUGIN INFORMATIONS

2.1 General Description


The goal of this plugin is to make the pirates a bit more intelligent and organized than in the vanilla game. Each Pirate Base will now behave on its own, buying and capturing new ships, raiding TS, invading sectors, buying improved Lasertowers, sending patrols and much more. When the plugin starts, each pirate base will receive a random amount of money and some ships. Then periodically (20-30 minutes), each pirate base decide to do one of those previously stated actions. One of the pirate bases will act as a HQ. This HQ will give general orders to the other bases, like targeting a particular race or sector.

By the way, two "Independant" shipyards will be spawned in two random pirate sectors. Those shipyards will allow pirate oriented players to sell and/or repair captured ships, to buy ships that aren't usually buyable in any other 'legit' shipyard and a set of new (but expensive) softwares and devices for you ships.

The plugin also includes a communication system (called ECS) with pirate pilots and stations, allowing the player to speak with them using a hotkey, like in the Yaki Armada plugin. Depending if you're a friend or a foe, you can ask them for directions, help or to give them a little tribute to avoid beeing attacked. ;)

Moreover, when activated, the plugin will ask you what initial relationship you want with the pirate faction. Allowing you to roleplay as a pirate (independant or affiliated to the guild) or as a cop or even as a bounty hunter. Smugglers will also enjoy this plugin, as they will find a lot of wares to loot during pirate invasions.


2.2 Hostile/Neutral/Friendly Pirates

As soon as the plugin starts, you'll receive an incoming message. This message will allow you to set your initial relationship with the pirates. Notice that the reputation evolve slowly and you will see from time to time a pirate attacking you no matter your current standing toward the pirate community (it's a game engine limitation). It's sadly a game game engine limitation. This said, don't forget to double check your Friend/Foe settings from to time ;)
  • You can set your standing to Enemy. Your relation will be set to -50.000 points. All pirate ships except those handled by the Pirate Guild itself will be red. You can try to increase your standing by helping pirates through ECS. Or you can start to hunt PG ships as the police will give you additional money for the destruction of guild members (by any of your ships).
  • You can set it to Neutral. Your reputation will be set at 0 points. All pirates will be neutral to you. Attacking too much pirates will easily make them angry, though.
  • And if you want to be a pirate and do not worry about some pirate captures from time to time, set the option to Friendly. You'll get a reputation of 50.000 points. All the pirates will know you as one of them. You will also be automatically set as a member of the Pirate Guild.
Relations with the pirates in this plugin work like this :

+------------+---------+---------+-----------+---------+------------+------------+
| -1.000.000 |  Enemy  | -10.000 |  Neutral  | +10.000 |  Friendly  | +1.000.000 |
+------------+---------+---------+-----------+---------+------------+------------+

When pirates are your enemies, most of the ships (if not all) will be show as red. However, vessels owned by the Guild will stay neutral unless you've also attacked Guild's assets. When they are neutral, you'll find both hostile and friendly pirates. Finally, when they are friendly, most, if not all, pirates will be blue, even those you've attacked earlier may return to a neutral state after a while. You'll loose reputation points by killing  pirates, and even more points if the pirate is affiliated to the Pirate Guild. You'll gain points by helping attacked pirate (through the comm. system, see next). Killing targets of the guild will also gives you points (and money). Beeing a member of the guild also slowly increase your standing, but you'll need at least 1.000 reputation points to join.


2.3 Communication System

Communication between the playership and the Pirates is done via the ECS library. Target a pirate ship or a pirate station at less than 8km of your ship and press the keyboard shortcut assigned to the ECS library to comm with it. How the pilot/station will react depend of your guild rank and your general reputation with the pirate faction. The basic communication options allow you to ask a ship for the location of the nearest pirate base, to ask for an escort, to surrender, and more. You're also able to help a pilot when he is attacked by the police or military forces. The ECS system is very important and it is used for all interactions between the player and the plugin, so you'd better get used to it ;)


2.4 Getting Started
  • It's not needed to restart the game. But, if you want to be a pirate, I think you should restart anyway, as the game will be much more enjoyable for you, especially if you're using both Pirate Guild and Yaki Armada. I'd suggest you to start with the "Bankruptcy Assassin" scenario. Set the pirates as your friends, and keep a good relationship with the Splits (or any other race that doesn't already hate you).

  • If you want to hunt the Guild, there's absolutly no need for a restart. Just wait a few game hours as the guild needs to build up strength to be a serious opponment. The Galactic Police pays well the destruction of any Pirate Guild ship. But beware, the Guild then may decide to target you and to break in your industrial and military sectors. Also notice that pirate ships are well equipped and sometimes overtuned, so capping them can be rewarding.

  • You have to understand that this plugin won't change everything in the universe the second it's enabled. It can take up to several hours before the bases can buy enough ships and defenses to become a real threat. But you can be sure that they will. So, if the Guild doesn't like you, you'd better be prepared. :)

  • Try to get a Jumpdrive as soon as possible. Without it, you'll always arrive too late during invasions and attacks as most of the guild members are equipped. You can find one on some legit ships, but if you manage to capture one, you should play the lottery instead (less than 5% of ships have a jumpdrive in the vanilla game). You can buy one at the Goner Temple (or from the Terracorp station, iirc) if your standing is good enough. Or, if Yaki Armada is installed, you can try to capture a Yaki ship (you'll find some of them patroling around the universe), as they are all fitted with a jumpdrive. 

  • Understand that pirate ships aren't a simple annoyance anymore. They are now a real threat, especially against a young commercial empire. Do not hope to destroy a Pirate Base with a single M3 (or even M6) and a few missiles. You'll have to send a whole fleet to do the job. And you can expect a brutal counterstrike againt your assets.  So, don't whine because you've lost your new fully equipped TL or a few factories to the Pirate Guild, you've been warned ;)



PIRATE BEHAVIOURS

3.1 Economy


Unlike other factions in the game, the Pirate Guild has its own economic system. However, to keep the plugin CPU friendly, calculations have been simplified. So instead of using real credits, PG uses virtual money. As an example buying a M3 will cost 500 credits to a base, a M4 400, and an upgraded lasertower about 1000 credits. The pirate bases will earn money in different ways. When they succesfully raid a trading vessel, the pirates will collect some wares and get a proportional amount of virtual credits. Also, transport ships are used to buy and sell the goods. Moreover, pirate bases now deals in more products including weapons, missiles and shields. And jumpdrive fitted trading ships are used by the bases to buy the products when they are available in other stations.

Also notice that you will find pirate Spacefly Hunters across the galaxy who are hunting and selling the spaceflies to the pirate bases.


3.2 Pirate Bases
[PB]

The PB are running 2 scripts. One is dedicated to the "fighting" part, and the other one to the "trading" part. The trade script will use transport ships under cover to buy & sell goods for the PB. The fight script is far more complex. Periodically this script will buy some ships and launch attacks. If the funds are high the PB can also decide to buy some upgraded lasertowers to defend itself. The kind of the attack will depend on the HQ orders, the available targets, and the amount of docked fighters. Basically the PB with less than 25 docked ships are known as 'Minor PB' and those with more are known as 'Major PB'.

A minor PB has a limited amount of possible behaviours. They can raid trading ships, send some ships on patrol, try to capture an enemy fighter, or buy one through a nearby shipyard. A major PB has the same possible actions as their little sisters, they can also attack police/military fighters and capital ships and invade a sector during a given amount of time.

Also notice that the PBs have a limit to the amount of ships they can own. This limit - made to prevent the Pirate Guild from going out of control - has been set to 50 ships per Pirate Base.


3.3 Guild HQ

When the plugin starts, a HQ is randomly selected. This HQ will always act as a minor pirate base even if it has more than 25 docked ships. The HQ script's goal is to select the race who killed the most pirates from the guild as a target and select a nearby sector owned by this race. PBs near the targeted race's sectors will concentrate the attacks on the assets of this race.

When the HQ will have enough docked ships (40, atm) it will send a massive invasion force against the selected enemy sector for a long duration. Without the RRF plugin, stations may be destroyed (don't forget that they will respawn later anyway). When the invasion is over the "kill counter" of the targeted race is reset to 0 and a new HQ is randomly selected. If the HQ is destroyed, the assault will be canceled, a new HQ will be randomly chosen, and "kill counters" will be reset for every race except the killer (meaning that this race will be targeted next).

Notice that this system will work for every race your game can have. Including Xenons, yourself, Yakis or even new races from custom mods. If the targeted race doesn't own sectors (like the player by example), the HQ will target the sector with the most factories of this race in a given radius.


3.4 Buying and Capture of ships

There is 3 ways for the pirate guild to get new ships. They can be captured during a raid. They can be bought at a nearby shipyard (including custom ships) and they can be built directly in pirate stations for an increased cost. So expect to find any kind of ships, even captured Xenon/Khaak fighters or ships from whatever mod you're playing with. Pirate ships are equipped with a jumpdrive and they know how to use it. They usually have improved weaponry and are sometimes overtuned. Moreover, pirate ships stay under cover until they reach their target (looking like standard argon or whatever ships).

Ships owned by the Guild have an homebase set. Attacking a ship with an homebase is the same as declaring war at his homebase. If you're a member of the Pirate Guild, do not attack fellow members or you'll get kicked out. However you'll be allowed to join again and repair your relationship for a given amount of money. Pirate ships without homebase are 'independant' pirates. Attacking them won't have a bad impact on your guild ranking (but you'll still loose reputation points).


3.5 Pirate Patrols

In pirate sectors (or other sector with a pirate base inside) you will find Pirate Guild Patrol ships. They act very differently from standard patrol ships you can see ingame. In fact, they are looking for pirate ships beeing attacked by ships from other factions (including yours) around them. When such a ship is found, all pirate ships patroling the sector will attack the enemy vessel. When the enemy has been vaporized, they will resume the patrol. If you are a guild member, they will also protect your own ships.




PIRATE GUILD SYSTEM

4.1 Joining the Pirate Guild

To join the Pirate Guild, you'll need to have a correct reputation with the pirates (at least 1000 reputation points). All you will need to do is to go near a pirate base and comm. with it using ECS, asking to join. You won't need money (or a jumpdrive, unlike Yaki Armada). Beeing a member of the Guild will give you access to the Pirate News Network and to various features and missions. It will also slowly and automatically increase your global reputation amongst the pirates. Moreover, if a group of hostile independant pirates try to attack you, you can cancel their attack for free by using ECS. Once you're a member, you'll see something like this when you com-link a pirate station:

Guild Communication Center


4.2 Pirate News Network
[PNN] 

The PNN can be read by any member of the Guild. Com-link a pirate station and select Guild News. It's a news system displaying recent important events happening in the Guild's territory. You'll see a report when a PB decide to invade a sector or to attack a military ship. Decisions of the Guild HQ will also be displayed here. Notice that PNN works in real time. Unlike the X3 BBS system, you do not need to quit and re enter a sector to see a new set of news (full of useless junk :p ). News are added and removed in real time. Announcements for the various contests held by the Guild are also posted on the PNN, see section [4.8].

PNN

Important: It may take up to 2 game hours before the first news are displayed on the PNN. It's because there's nothing much to report, pirate bases are building up basic fleets and defenses before starting major operations.


4.3 Pirate Shipyards


The pirate mechanics are the best in the whole universe, everyone know that. The can make a killing machine out of a poor unarmed M4. But it will cost you a hell lot of credits to do so. Nothing's for free, especially in the X-Universe. The two Independant Shipyards built by the plugin offer much more services than in the traditional SY. You can of course sell and repair your ships, you can also buy rare ship variants (looking for a Nemesis Raider?) and you can buy new upgrades, softwares and devices for your ships through ECS. All those upgrades have been designed for this plugin and the whole list can be found in the section [5.1] of this doc.


4.4 Guild Members 

You're not the only guild member here. There's several other pilots fighting for the title of "Guild Leader" that only one pilot can keep. Each pilot of the Pirate Guild has his own experience level and ranking in the Guild. Each time a guild member (either you or an AI pirate pilot) succesfully kill a target or fulfill a mission he will gain rank. The 10 Top Members are displayed in the Guild Communication Center.

This features implies a lot of things. First, only one member can control the Guild behaviours. So if you want to be the leader, you'll have to climb your way up to the top and to stay at the top. The method you will use is up to you ;)

Notice that a "Top 10" in the Guild is also a "Wanted List" for the police forces. Killing a member of this list may give you a nice amount of credits.


4.5 Rank System


There's various ranks in the guild. The more advanced you are in the guild, the more services will be available from pirate bases.
  • Outlaw [0 XP needed] : This is the basic rank in the Guild. Only the Pirate News Network will be available in pirate bases. You can also cancel attacks from hostile independant pirates for free.

  • Pirate [2,000 XP needed] : Most pirates will adopt a friendlier attitude toward you. Moreover you will be authorized to buy some additional devices for your ships at the Independant Shipyards.

  • Swashbuckler [5,000 XP needed] : Hacking softwares will be now available for you at the Independant Shipyards. Other pirates will always tell you what you want to know.

  • Captain [10,000 XP needed] : Another software available for you at the shipyards. Ability to ask a PB to hack security files of a nearby station to grant you docking rights. You can also activate the "Pirate Guild Newsfeed", a small report tools that will record all pirate guild activities directly in your logbook.

  • War Boss [15,000 XP needed] : You can now give money to the pirate bases in order to make them stronger.  Another piece of equipement is available at the shipyards. And finally you'll receive your own small pirate fleet.

  • Guild Leader [30,000 XP needed] : To access to the ultimate rank, you won't only need to get the XP. A difficult battle is ahead but it really worth it. Of course, you'll get your own Pirate Base in the sector of your choice, and you will be given full control over the Guild activities through your newly built Pirate HQ. For more details about the Guild Leader position, read below.

4.6 The Guild Leader - NOT YET AVAILABLE ON VERSION 0.95

If you manage to become the Pirate Guild's leader, you'll get full control over the PG faction. Through your Pirate HQ's command menu you'll be able to target races and sectors, to recruit new pilots for your HQ, and to set your base to automatic mode (will act like a standard PG station using both your own ships and the hired pilots). You'll also get a share from all PG incomes. However, you'll now be targeted by bounter hunters from all the galaxy. And even some jealous guild members may try to kill you. By the way if, for one reason or another, your Pirate HQ is destroyed, you'll loose a bunch of experience points and your rank will fall down to War Boss.


4.7 Mission System

Unlike most other scripts and plugins, Pirate Guild doesn't offer BBS mission (or static / click-me mission) that you have to accept to complete. Here, missions are dynamically generated, depending of what the Guild is doing. As an example, when a Pirate Base decides to attack an Argon Military Centaur, a news will be displayed in the PNN, and if you're in the same sector as this Pirate Base you'll also receive a broadcast message through ECS. You can decide to kill the Centaur yourself or to let the other members deal with the enemy. If you destroy the Centaur yourself, you'll get a bounty and experience points. Same applies with sector invasions or assassination missions. Helping pirates who are under attack will also give you money and XP. Sometimes you may destroy a guild target without even knowing it (you'll still get the reward, though). Oh, and even if you don't want to join a fight, you may still give it a look. You certainly won't get XP, but you'll still be able to collect some crates from the destroyed ships ;)

Notice that some of the raids sent be the pirate bases aren't displayed on the PNN. You'll be informed about those minor missions (like the attack of transport ships) only if you're in the same sector as the base who's launching the mission.

There's also some missions that will occur each time the plugin meet a given situation. As an example once you'll be a high rank Guild official, you may face assassinations attempts. And beware, some of those mercenaries are less stupid than you can think.


4.8 Contests 

You'll sometimes find, on the PNN, announcements about contests being held, those events are a good way to make money and gain ships with unique abilities if you don't mind taking some (huge) risks. Here's a brief summary of the various contests:

- Deadly Run -
This event is only available on in Pirate Bases not too far away from a Xenon sector (5 sectors) and it is by far the most dangerous, as a failure means death. You will be placed in a fast Split M5. Your goal will be to go to a specific Xenon sector and to collect as many crystals as possible in a given amount of time. Each collected crystal will give you 100.000 credits and if you succeed in collecting all the crystals before the time ran out, you'll either gain additional money or a special prize.

- The Arena -
This event will take place in an "unknown" sector. You'll be placed in a fully equipped Pirate Nova Raider. You'll have to fight against successive waves of attackers each time stronger than the previous one. Each time you defeat a wave, you'll gain money and have the choice to quit or continue. If you successfully manage to destroy each wave you will either double your income or gain a special prize.

- Dodge This -  - NOT AVAILABLE ON 0.95
This contest is a (sick) variation of  The Arena. You'll fly a Split Mamba Raider and the action will take place in an unknown sector. Your goal will be to survive as long as possible against more and more hostile ships. But this time, you won't be allowed to shoot down your enemies, only destroying the incoming missiles is authorized. To make things worst you will be placed in a "box" symbolized by satellites. If you stay out of the box for more than a few seconds, you'll loose (but you will keep the money you've earned so far).







NEW SHIP UPGRADES

5.1 Upgrade List

OverTuning 20%
cost : 100.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : None Needed
desc : Self explanatory I guess. Buying this upgrade will make your ship go faster by 20%.

Shield Optimizer Mk1 & Mk2
cost : MK1 : 500.000 credits - MK2 : 1.000.000 credits
class: MK1 : Fighters and TS/TP - MK2 : Corvettes and capital ships. 
rank : None Needed
desc : This upgrade will automatically optimize the energy distribution in your shield system. In other words it will sighly increase your recharge rate. Once installed it will work automatically without any input. Only works when the ship is flying.

Automated Mineral Scanner [AMS]
cost : 75.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : None Needed
desc : This software will automatically scan and tag asteroids in a 15km radius without any input needed by the user.

Fighter Drone Nano Constructors [FDNC]
cost : 300.000 credits
class: TP/TS/TL
rank : None Needed
desc : Thanks to the various security holes in the NanoSoft network, this device is now widely available on the black market. With the FDNC onboard, your transport ships will never lack fighter drones. Self replicating nanobots will continuously build new drones from scratch inside your ship. On a TS or TP ship, the device will maintain up to 15 drones, and 30 on a TL. Once installed the robots will works automatically without any input, but like with all other nano-technology based upgrades, the ship must be flying for the device to work.

NanoSoft Repair Bay [NRB]
cost : 40.000.000 credits
class: M1 and TL only
rank : Captain
desc : This advanced piece of equipement brought by NanoSoft is only available on M1 and TL carriers. A 100% automated repair bay will be installed on your carrier. Docked ships with a damaged hull will be repaired one at a time (very) slowly. By the way the NRB is unable to repair ships that have been too badly damaged (less than 40% hull integrity to be exact).

TerraCorp Nano Repair Facilities [TNRF]
cost : 80.000.000 credits
class: Any ship able to dock smaller ships
rank : War Boss
desc : This device was only found on a few of the latest military carriers until it felt  in the Pirate Guild's hands. During a failed military assault against the Pirate Anarchy Port in LooManckStrat's Legacy, the Argon Colossus Flagship carrying this experimental device was taken down by the Guild forces in the minefield and for some reason the auto-destruction sequence failed. So, Guild's hackers were able to investigate the wreck and found this device. Like the NanoSoft Repair Bay it will repair docked ships using nano technologies. But the TNRF is much more efficient :  all docked ships are repaired at the same time, and the repair rate is better. Moreover, it can even repair the most badly damaged ships when NRB simply can't.

Anarkis Virii Uploader [AVU] - NOT YET WORKING ON VERSION 0.95
cost : 1.000.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : Swashbuckler
desc : This software is only useful on the ship you're flying yourself, as none of your automated ships know how to use it. You target an enemy ship and send the virus (using a keyboard shortcut). The effect on the enemy ship is random, the virus can damage the engines causing a slowdown, destroy random pieces of software, weaken or halt shields during a given amount of time, ... However, don't think you.can spam your enemy by sending tons of viruses to him. It takes at least 20 minutes for your ship computer to build and compile a new virus.

Advanced AntiVirus Scanner [AAVS] - NOT YET WORKING ON VERSION 0.95
cost : 500.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : None Needed
desc : As soon as this software is installed, you'll be protected against 80% of the viral charges that can be sent against your ship. Notice that a ship with the default software would only get a 15% ratio. This software works automatically without any input needed by the pilot.

Anarkis Black-iCE  [ABiCE] - NOT YET WORKING ON VERSION 0.95
cost : 750.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : Swashbuckler
desc : This software developped by the Guild's hackers can't be used with the advanced antivirus. You'll have to choose between one or another. This software only has a 50% success rate to block an incoming virus. But if it manages to block it, the effect will be sent back to the enemy ship. Moreover no matter if the the virus is successful or not, your ship will automatically target to enemy who sent the virus. And of course, it works automatically without any input needed by the pilot.

Ship Signature Scanner [SSS] - NOT YET WORKING ON VERSION 0.95
cost : 100.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : Pirate
desc : Only useful on the ship you're flying. Target the ship and press a key on yout keyboard to get details about this vessel. You'll get very detailled informations about this ship (real faction, even for ships under cover), custom softwares installed, fight skill, and many other details. Scanning ships is illegal in non pirate sectors, however there's only a 20% probability that the SSS will be detected.

ECM Device Mk1 & Mk2
cost : MK1 : 100.000 credits - MK2 :  300.000 credits
class: All ships
rank : MK1 : None Needed - MK2 : Pirate
desc : ECM devices are widely used missiles electronic countermeasures. The Mk1 has a 50% success rate and the MK2 a 75% succes rate and a longer range. Both devices work automatically without any input from the pilot. Notice that this device won't work on OOS ships as missiles don't really exist OOS.


*** SPOILER ALERT ** The Following softwares aren't available at start ** SPOILER ALERT ***

Overtuning 100%
cost : 2.000.000
class: see above
rank : Only available once you have won the Deadly Run contest.
desc : This experimental piece of equipement will double the speed of your ship. Use it with caution on the playership, as the autopilot won't like it very much.

Solar Jumpdrive Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3
cost : MK1 : 2.000.000 credits -  MK2 : 5.000.000 credits - MK3 : 10.000.000 credits
class: MK1 : M4/M3/TP - MK2 : M6/M7/TS - M3: M1/M2/TL
rank : Only available once you have won the Dodge This event
desc : This revolutionary jumpdrive addon will automatically generate its own energy cells using small particules found solar & cosmic rays. The Mk1 variant for small and medium vessels is able to generate up to 75 energy cells. The Mk2, about 200 e.cells and the Mk3 for capital ships will generate up to 300 e.cells. However, the ship must be flying to generate the energy cells. Docked ships beeing unable to collect those particules.

Regenerative Hull Componment Mk1 & Mk2 [RHC]
cost : MK1 : 5.000.000 credits - MK2 : 15.000.000 credits
class: MK1 : M5/M4/M3/TP/TS - MK2 :M6/M7/M1/M2/TL
rank : Only available once you have won  The Arena tournamenet
desc : The RHC was initially designed by the Boron Military. This advanced Bio/Nano technology and it still works 50% better on Boron ships due to the particular hull materials they are using. Anyway, this device will slowly and automatically repair any damage on your hull even for badly damaged vessels. Notice that if the variants built for non capital ships can bring back to life a very badly damaged ship in a matter of a few hours to a day, repairing a capital ships may take several days. The RHC needs the shields to be at least at 50% integrity to work.


*** SPOILER ALERT * You'll have to highlight the text above to read it * SPOILER ALERT ***


5.2 Misc Infos about the Upgrades

Pirate pilots will buy and use all "passive" upgrades (Shield Optimizers, FDNC, ECM, ...). They can also buy and use the AVU, not very smartly, though.

About ABiCE and AAVS, you may ask yourself what's the point of buying these softwares. And you may be right as long as you do not plan to reach the rank of Guild Leader or to reach the last levels of the Arena. But be aware that the more you advance in the Guild and the more enemy ships will be equipped with the AVU system.

As those upgrades aren't real X3 ship componments, there's no easy way to know what upgrade you've installed on you've already installed on your ships as they won't appear in your cargo. However, you can use the Ship Signature Scanner uprade on your own ships. Moreover the Independant Shipyard won't install the same upgrade twice on the same ship.





OTHER DETAILS

6.1 Interactions with Yaki Armada 

** Not canceled but set back to low priority until the "Open Space" project is a bit more advanced **

6.2 Questions and Answers

Finally I can relax here a little after all this typing on a painfully long documentation (that no one will ever read)
  1. You could have made one script per ship componment, and pirate guild as a separated plugin, why all of them in one pack ?
    Of course, i could, but it would have been a nightmare to manage. Moreover i want this plugin to create a whole universe around the "dark side" of the galaxy. Until now pirates, smugglers and mercs never had a real place in the X-Universe. I hope this addon will prove that the game engine is able to handle both style of gameplay. Moreover putting all of this together allows me to include various features that would have been much harder to include otherwise.

  2. I'm skeptic, does all of this really work ? I'm tempted by this script but i'm afraid to loose my game, what should i do ?
    I would be too frankly. Still, yes it works great. Try it by yourself ;) I've probably let some little bugs here and there, and prices aren't really well balanced, but this is secondary, nothing that one or two little patches won't handle easily. Pirate Guild won't "break" your game or your savegames. As soon as you disable to plugin in the AL Settings, old relations are restored, ships handled by the guild destroyed and the pirates are stupid again ;) 

  3. Some of your ship componments/softwares have already been written by other authors, what should i do ? 
    You can probably use both  (not on the same thing at the same time of course). But don't forget that most of my own ship upgrades are used by the Pirate faction and soon the Yaki.

  4. Pirates hates me and now they are attacking my transports, my whole empire is on its knees, that's unfair ! What should I do  ?
    If it's true, then i've well made my work. Until now it was virtually impossible to loose or to go to bankruptcy. Where's the fun in endlessly planting factories watching your credit counter climbing ? Anyway, nothing prevent you from restart the plugin and set back the pirates as your friends.

  5. Why don't I see the new softwares i've bought at the independant shipyard in my ship cargo ? Why there's nearly no new commands ?
    The amount of commands and softwares upgrades X3 can handle is limited and currently it's mostly full, so i had to find an alternative to avoid beeing incompatible with tons of scripts due to the lack of room. The softwares/upgrades are virtual , they won't be displayed in the ship cargo  (on the other hand they won't be destroyed when your ship takes  hull damage). I only use one slot (in the "piracy" ship command  menu). If you use this command you'll get a menu that will list the installed upgrades and allow to configure some of them. Anyway most of the upgrades are "Buy & Forget" type, they work automatically as soon as installed and there's no valid reason why you would like to desactivate an automated repair bay on your carrier. Some of the upgrades (like the Virus Uploader) are using a hotkey, which is my own opinion easier to do that going through 3 screens of  menu. 

  6. Where's the Camouflage Device / Signature Scrambler for the player !?
    There's none. There's no clean and efficient way to implement this in X3 to be honest. Don't get me wrong, it's possible to have a script that act more or less like it, it has already be written but it's very far from beeing a clean way to do it. For the scripter (me ^^), handling pirate and yaki ships undercover is already a nice way to get some headaches.

  7. Can I do the plot while Pirate Guild is enabled ?
    No.

  8. Hey ! With your big script you've stolen my idea. I've written the same [whatever] as you ! And i'm unhappy.  
    I sincerly hope you will find a way to survive such a disaster ^^

  9. Any chance to see this script signed ?
    Not a single chance. First, I don't think they accept scripts that change the game so deeply. Moreover to be signed I'd need to rename about 150 scripts files manually through the ingame editor (and of course to modifiy each one of them). And i guess that X4 or even X5 will be out before I'm finished doing so :p  Anyway what's so important about signed ? I promise that PG won't make your computer explode, not even your game.

  10. Can i use parts of your script in my own ? 
    For private use only. However you can use the ECS library in any project, private or not, as long as you don't use it to comm-link with Pirates or Yakis.

  11. Can i include your plugin in my uber mod package with 203 new shipz 25 sectors full of cool emptiness and 75 random other scripts  stolen to people who've left the board ?
    Never ! I will hunt you, i will find you and i will remove it from your computer with my own hands, you've been warned !
    More seriously, no, it's too much problems for something so trivial. By the way adding too many 3rd party scripts to a modpack is always a very very bad idea, you should reconsider before it's too late. Adding 3rd party scripts means you don't have a serious scripter to do the job, so you don't have anyone to detect critical bugs. And finally, when your mod will hang after 14 hours of gaming, and refuse to go further no matter what, you'll be screwed ^^

  12. Open Space ? wth ?
    This is the name for a new "Space Opera" game i'm currently working on.

  13. It doesn't work ! Nothing happen ! What's a .rar file ?! where is my X3 folder ? and what's a folder anyway ?
    That's probably why you're the 13th question. Bad luck. If this documentation file can't help you, i'm afraid no one can, find someone who know how computers works, and even if he never played X3 i'm pretty sure he'll be able to at least install this script :p

6.3 Limitations

There's a few game limitations and side effects of the Pirate Guild plugin you should be aware of.
  • If you're not playing a new game from scratch with this plugin, and set pirates as your friends, you may still find some hostile pirate ships. There's no real way to prevent this. However all pirate ships are checked every 15 minutes, and correct relations are applied when needed. By the way, don't forget to apply your Friend/Foe settings to all your fleet from time to time to avoid friendly fire.

  • There's a lot of differences between OOS (out of sector) and IS (in sector) situations. And "weird" things may happen when you're in the same sector as pirate bases. As an example, when a Yaki Mobile Base (from the Yaki Armada plugin) comes to refuel at a pirate base it may sometimes be attacked by the pirates (even if the 2 factions aren't currently at war) for a random reason IS that won't happen OOS. It's not really possible to prevent this, there's too many random elements in the game. But, tbh, it's more a feature than a bug :)

  • Notice (and this is a general game note) that the sector you're in evolves much slowly than the others. So if you want the Guild HQ to grow fast, you shouldn't stay in the same sector.

  • Sometimes hostile pirates will turn back red on you even if you give them a tribute to go away. Here again, it's a game engine limitation. It doesn't happen very often. And finally it's like in real life :)

  • It can take some time to retrieve the Pirate Guild's Top10 pilot list. So, don't think that the game is crashing when you're asking for it to any PB. Just wait a few seconds, and you'll get it.

  • Do not press 'ESC' to quit a communication screen, alway use the 'bye / logoff / cancel' button. 

6.4 Full Changelog


TODO v1.00 - "Final" Release
 ( ) Feature: More PNN news (khaak, yaki, xenon invasions, capital ship destroyed)
 ( ) Feature: Guild Leader features (see section 4.4)
 ( ) Feature: Ability to build a new Pirate Base
 ( ) Feature: Military / Police ships will sometimes be sent against pirate bases
 ( ) Feature: PG pilots can buy and use most of the ship upgrades available in the Independant Shipyards
 
( ) Feature: Pirate Bases able to buy M6 ships
 ( ) Feature: Rewards for the killing of a "Top 10" pirate
 ( ) Feature: The player is now included in the "Top 10"
 ( ) Fixed: Player can use ECS to cheat and force a pirate target to stay blue
 ( ) Fixed: Major invasions sometimes occuring in a wrong sector
 ( ) Fixed: Various ways for the player to cheat the script

v0.95 - Internal Release ("offline" release ^^)
 (+) Feature: Two 'Independant Shipyards' are added in 2 random pirate sectors
 (+) Feature: Guild Ranking (see section 4.4 of the documentation)
 (+) Feature: Guild Contests (Deadly Run, The Arena)
 (+) Feature: You can ask pirate pilots what they are currently doing
 (+) Feature: Pirate Guild's 'Top10' pilots
 (+) Feature: Pay a fine to the guild when you've been kicked out
 (+) Feature: Various speech and sound FX added during ECS dialogues
 (+) Feature: Much interesting / challenging weapon setups
 (+) Feature: Assassinations attempts when the player has a high ranking in the guild
 (+) Feature: Includes about 15 new ship upgrades available at the independant shipyards
 (+) Feature: Pirate Spacefly Hunter ships added
 (+) Feature: Various wares added to pirate bases (more weapons, shields, salvage insurances)
 (+) Feature: W
are Distribution randomized. Now each PB deals with different wares.
 (+) Feature: Wares in pirate bases have been randomized (not every base the same anymore)
 (+) Feature: Smarter use of the covert state
 (+) Feature: Patrol scripts heavily improved
 (+) Feature: Damaged PG ships jumping back to safety to be repaired
 (+) Feature: Should use X3 2.0 new ships more often
 (o) Change: ECS / Communication extended to 12km (instead of 8km).
 (o) Change: Tuned the amount of ships sent during patrols, and attacks against capital ships
 (o) Change: Slowed down PB activities a little
 (o) Change: Added some colors to the guild news
 (o) Change: Prices of ships bought by the guild tuned
 (o) Change: A load of library scripts have been updated
 (*) Fixed: Ships bought from shipyards not returning to the homebase
 (*) Fixed: Bases not paying anything for some of the new ships
 (*) Fixed: Guild ships without a cloacking device able to use cover
 (*) Fixed: Pirate ships staying "blue" when the plugin is disabled
 (*) Fixed: Various minor to medium bugs and glitches
 (*) Fixed: The plugin may hang if all the pirate bases are destroyed
 (*) Fixed: Not kicked out of the guild when you're attacking a PG ship
 (*) Fixed: PB buying ships to Xenon and Khaak shipyards or to shipyards way too far.
 (*) Fixed: Naming and Relation Issues with pirate traders

 (*) Fixed: Sector not appearing on map when a pirate gives the location of a base
 (*) Fixed: PB "sleep" time sometimes much shorter than it should be
 (*) Fixed: Not gaining money /rank for captured ships

v0.72 - Balancing Preview
 (+) Feature: Paying a "tax" to the pirates will increase your reputation a little
 (o) Change: Reputation change. Friendly: all blue | Neutral: handled by the game engine | Enemy : all red
 (o) Change: Slowed down the 'reputation increase' for guild members
 (*) Fixed: Pirate Guild attacking members on rare occasions
 (*) Fixed: PG ships turning red when relation is very low
 (*) Fixed: PG ships turning blue against its attacker

v0.70 - Guild and News Preview
 (+) Feature: Basic Guild joining and leaving options
 (+) Feature: Show reputation, status and various info when 'talking' with a base through ECS
 (+) Feature: ECS Broadcasted mission system (for TS raiding, police hunting, invasions)
 (+) Feature: Pirate News Network
 (+) Feature: ECS dialogue to prevent pirates from attacking you if your standing is good
 (+) Feature: Setting pirate as friends will set all pirate stations to blue
 (+) Feature: You'll get money, reputation & rank by killing ships targeted by the guild
 (+) Feature: Beeing a member slowly increase you general reputation with pirates
 (o) Change: An attacked pirate ship under cover will now uncover
 (o) Change: Setting yourself as a pirate friend make you join the guild automatically
 (o) Change: Slowed down guild activity a little
 (o) Change: PB will buy less ships at once
 (o) Change: Invasion duration sightly reduced
 (o) Change: Attacked covert ships will automatically uncloack
 (*) Fixed: Friendly Fire issues causing friendly pirates to go red
 (*) Fixed: Guild sometimes attacking friendly players
 (*) Fixed: Relation settings not applied to TS ships
 (*) Fixed: TS doing nothing when the player disable the plugin or a PB is destroyed
 (*) Fixed: Bug preventing raiding parties from recovering stolen wares to pirate bases
 (*) Fixed: Not enough energy cells for ships to jump
 (*) Fixed: Newly spawned pirate ships when player is friendly stay red


v0.65 - Balancing Preview
 (+) Feature: Ability to set initial relation with the pirates.
 (+) Feature: Dynamic relations with pirate ships
 (+) Feature: If player hostile, the Guild HQ is able to locate player's strategic sectors and attack them
 (+) Feature: Improved Guild HQ behaviours.
 (+) Feature: The player will gain additional credits from the 'Galactic Police' if he destroy Guild owned fighters
 (*) Fixed: Glitches when PG' ships are captured by the player
 (*) Fixed: PB invading xenon/khaak/unknown sectors

v0.60 - Guild HQ AI Preview
 (+) Added a random Pirate Guild HQ
 (+) The HQ give orders to the other pirate bases
 (+) Pirates will focuse attacks on the race that do the most damages to them
 (+) Update of the plugin upgrade no longer need the player to manually reset it
 (+) Pirate Bases will buy improved LT with 125Mj shields, improved turning rates, and no CDT ;)
 (*) Fixed : player's aim now points correctly to the ship you have to kill (in ECS mini-missions)

 
v0.50 - Beta Version
 (+) PB are able to order ships from nearest SY (including custom ships)
 (+) More variants of ships used
 (+) Agressiveness of PB tuned
 (*) Fixed : CTD caused by lasertower - no more 125mj shields
 (*) Fixed : Missing wares in pirate bases
 (*) Fixed : Pirate ships not enemy to the invaded sector

v0.41 - Crappy Fix
 (*) NOT Fixed : Lasertower related CTD

v0.40 - First official Release (Beta 1)



6.5 Libraries

- ECS: Extended Communication System - Allow custom communication dialogues with ships and stations
- AGS: Anarkis Guild System - Library used to handle a guild the player can join
- aNPC: Anarkis NPC - Real pilots
- aLife: Anarkis aLife Plugin - Spacefly hunter job script
- [todo] AMIS: Anarkis Mod Integration System - Improves the integration of my plugins in mods with custom ships and weapons
- And a bunch of custom libraries [ anarkis.lib.* files ]




COPYRIGHT

Feel free to link our download page or (better) the Pirate Guild topic on our official board or on the Egosoft's one.
You aren't allowed to host/link to this archive directly or to include it in your mod or script package.
You aren't allowed to distribute modifications or parts of this plugin without my permission.

- Thanks -


[ Serial Kicked ] @ [ Anarkis Federation ]